Friday, September 20, 2013

Big Bed, Little Bed

As you all know by now, I really like antique Victorian furniture. So much so that I made a Victorian bedroom set for my dollhouse. See it on my bed?


A little closer view...
It is a 1 inch scale bed, 1" equals 1', so being miniature it has a 7" headboard and it would have a 7' headboard if it were people size, like my bed.


It was a kit that I bought on Ebay. It is from 1979, look at the 70's people on the box, aren't they cute?!
So after two weeks I finished it. Whew, was that a job!


Here it is up close...


And here is where it will go, in the dollhouse. My daughter kicked the dollhouse out of her room so now it is in my room! Hubby is loving that! Hah! Why did my daughter kick it out you ask? Because she is 13 and can't have a dollhouse in her room she says.
So here is it's new spot...


right under the antique towel rack, with the reflection of the bed in the mirror.


A close up of the carved crest.


Here is the miniature bedroom set in the dollhouse...


in its own little room, above the parlor.


Here is the miniature washstand with the washbowl and pitcher, the chamber pot and the little soap in its little dish. Is that cute or what?! The people size ironstone chamber pot lives under my bed.


See it tucked behind the slipper bench, under the bed? When we lived in our 1 bathroom house, when the kids were little, they used to use it when the one and only bathroom was in use.


While we are in my room I'll show you my dresser...



and my lamp table...


and the lamp, and on the wall is a pen and ink drawing of the Bed and Breakfast my hubby and I stayed in on our wedding night.


And two beautiful Victorian ladies in a gilted frame...


and lots of embroidered and crocheted pillowcases. I really like the one's that say His and Hers and Mr and Mrs.


And these with the embroidered B's, 2 pillowcases and a sheet with the B. And the pillowcases with the embroidered birds on them.


And these with the crocheted and tatted edges.


So again, you can see that I really LOVE collecting antique and Victorian anything, including miniatures! 
The miniature bed really doesn't match my bed 
or my daughter's bed,

                                      

                             

or the doll's bed...

                                              

it looks more like my son's bedroom set...

                                              

well, maybe not!

                                             

After all these pictures of beds you may be ready for bed yourself. Or you may be feeling like you want to hear "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".
 Would you want to sleep in the
big bed,
               the middle size bed or the
                                                                                                                wee little baby bear's bed?

Thank you so much for visiting and have a great week!

I am joining the following parties, please come join us.
PINK SATURDAY with Beverly at HOW SWEET THE SOUND
AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy at DWELLINGS
A RETURN TO LOVELINESS with Kathy at A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
HOME with Sandi at ROSE CHINTZ COTTAGE
TREASURE HUNT THURSDAY with Pamela at FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS
HOME AND GARDEN THURSDAY with Kathy at a DELIGHTSOME LIFE
WHAT'S IT WEDNESDAY with Paula at IVY AND ELEPHANTS
HOME SWEET HOME with Sherry at THE CHARM OF HOME
SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY with Cindy at MY ROMANTIC HOME
MONDAY MINI LINK at JAZZI MINIS

Sunday, September 8, 2013

A Trip to the Zoo

We took our last day trip of the Summer and headed to the St. Louis Zoo. It is one of my favorite places to go.  A great place to go to be reminded of God's glorious creation.

My daughter and I were very excited about our trip...


my hubby and son...not so much! But we did end up having a wonderful day, the temperatures were in the 80's so the animals were feeling good! The elephant statue below is always feeling good! ;-)


The Zoo opened 104 years ago and boasts lots of beauty in its historic architecture.

Below is a 1933 postcard of the Reptile house built in 1927.


The interior details are just incredible. The pretty columns and all that gilt work...


the iron railings...


and the beautiful light fixtures! The chain hangs from a metal snake and look at the tassels hanging from the bottom of the globes. So gorgeous!


Below is a photo of one of the many windows on the outside of this building. Don't you just love the detail of the wrought iron?


The next postcard is of the Monkey house. It opened in 1925.


An interior view of the windows with white railings...


and a sweet little monkey wondering what in the world I am doing!


The 1919 postcard below is of the Large Animal House. It opened in 1916 and was later used as the Lion House.


In 1919 the Elephant heads were moved to this building, the elephants do not reside in this building though.


They are here in more of a natural habitat area. Mama and baby were so much fun to watch that day.


In the below vignette I have used two 1920's or so postcards showing the newly constructed open air bear pits and a few vintage Zoo souvenirs.



And now for the oldest structure at the Zoo. The 1914 postcard below is the birdcage that was built by the Smithsonian Institution for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.


The flamingo's are always a favorite of mine...


The birdcage is now used as a Cypress Swamp area for many birds but there is also a Bird House at the Zoo. I do not have a postcard of this building but I took an interior photo of one of the many pillars. I liked the detail of the birds and flowers. Sorry it's not very clear.


The outside of the building had lots of pretty details. I just love the peacocks and look at the penguin on top of the pillar! (on the top right)


More flamingo's and penguins...


After showing you all that wonderful architecture I'll share with you just a few of my favorite animal pics.






So as you can tell...I REALLY love the Zoo. So much so that I even decorated the kids bathroom with animal ceramic tile that I bought at the Zoo back in 2010, their Zootennial year.
I have the tile going all the way around the room, alternating them with plain blue tile.


Pictured below is a close up the Zoo souvenirs that are next to the giraffe's hoof. FYI-the stuffed toy giraffe is only in this spot for the picture.


Here are all the animal tile that I bought. I only got 10, luckily the room is small because the tile were not cheap!


Thank you for coming along on our Zoo trip, we hope you had a fabulously "wild" time!



I want to thank Pamela over at TREASURE HUNT THURSDAY  and
Cindy over at AMAZE ME MONDAY for featuring my "Changes in the Parlor" post as one of the most viewed posts.

I am linking up with the following parties, please come join us.
AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy at DWELLINGS
WHAT'S IT WEDNESDAY with Paula at IVY AND ELEPHANTS
HOME with Sandi at ROSE CHINTZ COTTAGE
TREASURE HUNT THURSDAY with Pamela at FROM MY FRONT PORCH TO YOURS
HOME AND GARDEN THURSDAY with Kathy at a DELIGHTSOME LIFE
HOME SWEET HOME with Sherry at THE CHARM OF HOME
PINK SATURDAY  with Beverly at HOW SWEET THE SOUND